Sporting goods giant Adidas reported a 24.6 percent rise in pre-tax profit for the year. This despite costs related to the takeover of Reebok in the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter net income dropped from a profit of €18 million (£12.3 million) last year Although the integration of Reebok proved difficult, with the latter's sales falling 5 percent to $930 million (531.6 million) in the fourth quarter and orders plummeting 22 percent, the group's Adias and TaylorMade brands showed strong performances. Both brands posted double-digit growth, with improvement concentrated in North America, Asia and Latin America. “Adidas and TaylorMade are the strongest they've been in years,� said chief executive Herbert Hainer. “Many of our current efforts will now focus on turning around the Reebok brand.� He said Reebok sales would reach €2.8 billion in 2006.

Gross margins rose 48.2 percent on sales up 0.2 percent from the previous year. Pre-tax profits for the year amounted to €655 million on sales up 13.2 percent to €6.6 billion. “The acquisition of Reebok and the divestiture of Salomon clearly generated a lot of attention for us, and we also completed an impressive turn-around in our business in North America,� said Hainer. “With all these changes, we increased our focus on the group's core activities and delivered, once again, record financial results.�